September 24, 2017
Mai Rut to Koh Kong: Into Cambodia
During the night the heavens opened and it was still raining when we woke up this morning. The resort provided breakfast for us this morning to which we sat down at about a quarter past six. It was interesting to note that we had got an almost 50% discount on the listed price. It's no wonder that we were the only guests. The resort has a lovely garden and setting but it needs a lot of work to make it worth 3000 baht a night.
After breakfast we started out in the rain which was now quite light. However, with all the construction work on the road, there was mud everywhere so our bicycles and panniers got filthy. Although there were no big hills on the route, it consisted of lots of short sharp climbs, much like Korea, which is what to be expected given that the road is squeezed between the sea and the foothills of the Cardomom Mountains.
Passing out of Thailand took less than a minute once we had filled in our departure forms. We should have filled the forms in a long time ago because we have been carrying them around with us since we arrived in Thailand almost two months ago.
The process of getting into Cambodia took much longer but was trouble free. We had read up about what we should do on Travelfish (which windows to visit etc) and this made it easy to avoid the touts who attempt to help you through the process and lighten you wallet at the same time. Once through the border we tackled the last steep hill of the day. At the bottom of the downhill on the Koh Kong side of the hill we sped past a final checkpoint resulting in the the officials running out into the street behind us. Once we had overcome this last bureaucratic obstacle the ride into Koh Kong was flat and easy.
We headed for the Asian Hotel, one of the old business hotels in the town. A large, clean room with aircon and hot water was only $15 and has set a standard which I would be happy to enjoy for the rest of our stay in Cambodia. With the rooms not yet ready, we rode down the street to find some lunch, settling for a large plate of pork fried rice at $1.50 a plate at the first plastic chair we found. This is another standard I could enjoy.
Today's ride: 53 km (33 miles)
Total: 6,020 km (3,738 miles)
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